Paris is locking down the Eiffel Tower in anticipation of more violent clashes between protesters and police

Yellow Vest protesters seen looking at the unrest from the top of the Arc de Triomphe during a 'Yellow Vest' protest in Paris. Without any political affiliation, the Yellow Vest movement rallies in various cities in France against taxes and rising fuel prices.

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Sathiri Kelpa/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

French authorities are bracing for
further anti-government protests over the weekend. They are
deploying thousands of security personnel across Paris and
closing down the Eiffel Tower.

The iconic tower, as well as the Louvre museum and shop
fronts along the Champs-Elysees, will close as a precautionary
measure.

The riots of the past week are regarded as the
worst in Paris since 1968 and have seen violent
confrontations, national monuments damaged, and cars set on
fire.

Authorities in Paris are bracing for
further anti-government protests over the weekend by
deploying thousands of security personnel to the area and closing
down the city's iconic Eiffel Tower.

The Yellow Vests mobilized over rising gas prices mainly
caused by a new tax on diesel fuel, which has lifted prices 16%
in 2018. But the demonstrations have grown into a broader protest
against the rising costs of living and general displeasure with
President Emmanuel Macron's government.

Thousands of protesters have joined in on the riots -
the
worst in Paris since 1968 - burning cars,
smashing store-fronts, defacing national symbols, and
clashing with police. Last week, police fired 12,000 canisters of
tear gas and water cannons at protesters and arrested more than
400 people.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that
89,000 police officers will be deployed in the capital over the
weekend. Local authorities held emergency meetings
on Thursday in order to plan for the expected violence, AP
reported.

On Wednesday, Macron agreed to abandon
the
controversial diesel tax, which was seen as a victory for the
Yellow Vest movement. Still, protests are expected to continue as
the group demands broader tax cuts and government aid.

An interior ministry official told AFP that authorities
were ready for "significant violence" on Saturday as activists
from both ends of the political spectrum expected to make their
way through the capital.